Marie-Antoinette at the table

At Versailles, the meal does not follow the starter-main-dessert order: all dishes of the same 'service' cover the table at once, in symmetrical pyramids, and one serves oneself from whatever is at hand. There are three main services (soups and entrées; roasts and entremets; fruits and confections), framing the sumptuous public 'grands couverts' where the royal family dines before the court. Beside this theater, the queen took light, sober Viennese collations in private.

Born an archduchess at the Hofburg, Marie Antoinette brought to court the sweet habits of Vienna: morning hot chocolate, butter pastries, and candied fruits. This Austrian sweetness became her true signature, far from the heavy sauces of the grands couverts.